Thoughts on Hebrews: God's Rest, Part 13

Let’s look at God’s rest from the vantage point of Psalm 1:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 1 presents two classes of humanity, as the rest of Scripture does, and more particularly, as Jesus did, repeatedly. We would do well to acknowledge the distinctions God has made and ultimately will make in eternal judgment. But that is not the point of this post. I want to highlight: “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers."

When we see this garden imagery, we should think immediately of the two bookends of Scripture, Genesis 1 and 2 and Revelation 21 and 22..

Let’s turn to Genesis 2:

And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.

And then Revelation 22:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Note the place God first made for man was a place of rest. The work—i.e., tending the garden—was not a labor; the labor was intended to be a delight (as most gardeners still find), where man would cultivate his relationship with God and grow in love with the woman, as a precursor to:

Hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe [these statutes and commandments], so that you may prosper and multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (see Deut. 6:3-4)

You shall love your neighbor as yourself (see Lev. 19:18)

The briars and thistles that the man’s plowshare and sweat would yield came e by God’s curse after man chose his own path in opposition to God.

Similarly, God has planned an eternal rest for man (specifically, those who call upon the name of Christ Jesus). The defining characteristics of the new heaven and new earth revealed in Chapters 21 and 22 are God’s continual presence, and no more curse; and also, light and life and restoration. In other words, rest.

But what of the interim period we live in? Is there rest for the people of God? Yes. Because He has revealed it in Psalm 95 and again in Hebrews 4. Let’s look at Hebrews 4:

For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.”

Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.  So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

In the last post, I set out how God is the beginning of rest. But, like Adam, we have work to do. We must not only hear the voice of God as Adam did; but unlike him, and through the power of His Son, we must obey what He has said. The writer to Hebrews tells us this: “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of obedience.” He is speaking of Israel in the Wilderness—and we have looked at their unbelief in the enduring lovingkindness of God. Obedience and belief are the two wings of our rest if we would have it.

Psalm 1 helps us in this regard. To strive to enter His rest is to delight in His words so much so that we meditate upon them both day and night, while eschewing the counsel of wicked, the way of sinners, and the seat of scoffers.

I love the Hebrew word that the English translators unfortunately translate “meditate.” The word, hagah, is the sound of a lion’s growl (an onomatopoeia). Fantastic image isn’t it? Connotes devouring a meal like a lion. It is that much energy we should invest in His word if want His rest.

Hearing His voice means both listening and heeding.

We are not listening or heeding if we remain casual towards His word. Our affection for His word is a fair indication of our affection towards Him. But if we do listen to and heed His voice, we have this promise:

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 

[By the way, this promise of prosperity in Psalm 1 no more means American affluence and Western material success than it means the one who delights in the law of the Lord will become an evergreen Christmas tree. But that’s a topic for another day.]

From this promise, let’s return to the Song of Solomon, because I want to underscore God’s rest issues from a relationship with Him. The word, and our delight in it, must cultivate our love for Him, not grow a big head of cabbage. Meditating on His law both day and night should make us more humble, less proud, because in that exercise we learn how much He loves us in Christ Jesus. Alright, now the Song, Chapter 4:

You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice . . . A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed. Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with all choicest fruits, henna with nard, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all choice spices—a garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from Lebanon.

Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow.

In the Song we see a mystery. “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” (Eph. 5:32).

So, again, God’s rest involves a relationship like Ruth and Boaz, like Christ and His bride. Our relationship with Him must include a language, and that language is meaningless without words that can be conveyed and understood. In these last days, He has spoken to us by Son—and we learn what He has spoken by His Son by delighting in His word. And we will love Him by obeying what we read in Scripture:

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.

Christ ties together a promise of comfort and rest with obedience—the antithesis of losing rest and comfort by disobedience in the garden. A promise of a garden life (that is, rest) is still available to the people of God is found where we started in this post, the good counsel we find in Psalm 1.

Image courtesy of Unsplash and Joshua Hoehne